


EASTEND

by hibiscuses, xviichapters



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dystopia, Black Mirror AU, Fluff and Angst, Heavy Angst, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M, Non-Linear Narrative, star-crossed lovers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-12
Updated: 2018-01-12
Packaged: 2019-03-03 21:00:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13349424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hibiscuses/pseuds/hibiscuses, https://archiveofourown.org/users/xviichapters/pseuds/xviichapters
Summary: Where people pay for grinning cookies and pastel perfection with aggressive cheeriness and plastic smiles. In a world where reputation is the currency,is yours good enough?There is only a 0.398 point difference between them but they are worlds apart, and yet, Seungcheol would steal all the stars in the sky if only Jisoo asked.





	1. Author's Note

This universe is entirely based off "Eastend", a K-Pop roleplay on Tumblr which was in turn inspired by  _Black Mirror_ ,  _Nerve_ , and  _The 100._ The roleplay has unfortunately closed down but Cali (hibiscuses) and I (xviichapters) were incredibly motivated to continue on our muses narratives and after months of random headcanons going back and forths, we're finally doing it. This story has a non-linear narrative so do watch out for time-markers at the start of every chapter in case you get confused. We will try to update once a week, but seeing as how we're both in uni... We'll see.

Character muses of other muns will be pointed once they pop up in the story, so if you happen to be the mun of a particular muse and don't want your muse to be used/included, do drop us a message and we'll make the appropriate changes.

Stick with us folks, this is going to be A Journey™.


	2. Welcome to Eastend!

Year: 2664.

Centuries ago, a series of political mishaps and bad decisions led the economy to its collapse, tossing the world into its third World War. This war ultimately separated the globe into two: the West and the East.

After a failed attempt at a peace treaty and a fourth war, things finally simmered down between the two nations. Guns and grenades left the airwaves, and society settled back into a comfortable space: tiptoeing on the thin surface-tension lying between the past and the future.

On this precarious surface, the people of the East built the utopian masterpiece that is Eastend.

Here, our currency is reputation and everything you do can be used to rank you. So be careful! Everyone here can rate the other on a five-point scale using _SeeMe,_ a government-mandated _Zed Eyes_ application which in turn determines where one lives, works, the friends they have, the food they eat, etcetera etcetera.

In short, the more points you have, the better off you are.

Each person’s ratings is an average of all the ratings they have accumulated since first installing the _SeeMe_ application at six (6) years of age. Even a single one (1) star rating can pull your average down by 0.001, so make sure to smile at everyone on your walk around today!

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask _ZedVoice_ on your _ZedEyes_ for assistance _._

We hope you enjoy your stay!

 

 

* * *

 

**LAUNCHED: ZEDVOICE**

What can I do for you today?

 

 

**“WHERE IS EASTEND?”**

Eastend covers most of 21st century East Asia. Everyone here is of East-Asian descent.

 

 

**“EASTEND LOCATIONS”**

Here is a list of Eastend districts.

 

FERN

_You must have a minimum rating of four-point-five (4.5) to visit or reside here, unless vouched for by a resident of the district._

Fern covers a portion of the east and south of Eastend. It is the center of high-class living, of advanced technology, of good people and good food. It’s paradise–for anyone rated high enough. Anyone rated below 4.5 will not be  able to get past airport security without permission from a Fern resident (also known as ‘Fernies’).

 

GRASS

_You must have a minimum rating of three-point-five (3.5) to visit or reside here, unless vouched for by a resident of the district._

Grass houses most of the middle class. It has a higher standard of living than Field. Being the area closest to Fern, most, if not all, citizens of Grass aim to qualify for admittance into Fern.

 

FIELD

_You do not need a minimum rating to enter this district._

Field goes beyond the borders of what used to be the northernmost part of Asia. A melting pot of classes and ratings, it’s where the majority of Eastend’s citizens live. Field houses some of the middle class and most of the lower class; it is home to most prison facilities.

 

People who don’t meet the rate requirement for a location can temporarily enter that location if they are being vouched for by a resident of that location. The maximum amount of time they can spend in that area is 1 month.

People who don’t meet the rate requirement for a location can take up residence in that location as long as the following conditions are met: a) they are living with a member of their immediate family (mother, father, brother and/or sister); b) they cannot purchase property in that location.

There are areas between locations that are not governed by rate requirements, such as bars, pubs, forested areas, workplaces etc.

 

Do you have any other questions?

 

 

**“EASTEND TECHNOLOGY”**

Here is a list of technology commonly used in Eastend.

  

ZED EYES

permanent eye implants that function similar to the 21st century smartphone. With  these implants, and the small thumb-sized remote control that comes with it, people can call and message their friends, search the worldwide web, play games, and even _block_ other people, etcetera.

The law requires all citizens to have Zed Eyes implanted at four (4) years of age.

 

SEEME

SeeMe is an application for the Zed Eyes that function much like social media sites from the 21st century. With this application, people can access each other’s feeds, post or share about their likes and dislikes, and most importantly, rate others. The law requires all citizens to have the SeeMe application installed at six (6) year of age. Once a person is incarcerated, their SeeMe application is uninstalled.

 

Do you have any other questions?

 

 

**CLOSE: ZED VOICE**

Goodbye! Hope to hear from you again!

 

* * *


	3. WINTER: 2664.12.30

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Grass, 30th December 2664.**

There’s an old superstition from the West — little more than a passing rhyme, really — that says that if a black cat crosses your path, you’ll encounter bad luck.

Seungcheol crossed one just this morning.

 

**_Michi: Get to Field, Skyview Apartments, corner on 17th. Someone’s attempting the crane dare_ **

 

Seungcheol doesn’t need to know who that someone is. He’s out the door and in the car in ten seconds flat, coat barely put on, stolen keys jangling in the ignition, ears _flooding_ with his heart beat–

 

**_Michi: You have ten minutes_ **

 

Seungcheol floors the accelerator. He’s in the center of Grass, half an hour away on a leisurely drive from where he’s supposed to be.

He’ll make it in five.

 _Please please please please,_ he prays heavily to something, anything, prays so hard he’s chanting it out loud without even realizing it, “Oh god Jisoo, _please_ wait for me.”

 


	4. SPRING: Meetings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Field, Sometime in Spring 2664.**

As Seungcheol has learnt, baby cats (ie. kittens, kitties, little balls of fluff with unnaturally sharp teeth) are very, _very_ hard to approach. They’ll let him come about a meter away from them, watching with large, waiting eyes, tiny tail straight up, and once he gets close enough, they would either run away or jump straight at him and try to scratch his eyes out.

In both cases, he would be the one at a loss. And yet, it has never stopped him from trying anyway. Choi Seungcheol is a stubborn man and some would say, foolish.

There are many of these little cats in Field. A cynic would sneer and comment how its reflection of the people themselves. _So many babies and they don’t even know who the father is._ But Seungcheol is neither a cynic nor a bigot, so he regards the plentiful number of kittens as a blessing. He _loves_ cats. Not as much as his dog at home, Koji, but cats come in a close second. He loves trying to earn their trust because though they may come across as aloof and uncaring at first, all cats really want is a good scratch under the chin. And once that trust is earned… It’s the most precious thing in the world.

Seungcheol does community work in Field from five to eight every Tuesdays and Thursdays, and he’d spend the rest of his time on the way back to the train station finding cats to pet. They aren’t normally hard to find but for some reason, today all the little kittens were in hiding and Seungcheol becomes a little desperate the closer he gets to the station.

All he wants is to pet a cute little cat today!

There was no hope of finding any strays in Grass because the local government had declared them pests and a menace to society. In Grass, cats were to be collared and properly vetted or they’d be collected and euthanized. And as much as a softie Koji is, cats just don’t seem to _like_ him. Multiple attempts at obtaining a pet cat have been foiled time and time again by a loud hiss, angry swipe of claws and a pitifully hurt whine from Koji.

Field was Seungcheol’s only hope.

He’s maybe about five minutes to the train station when he spots it — a single tail poking out of an alley. It’s long and silky (definitely not a kitten’s) but from the sounds he hears as he moves closer, he knows the smaller ones aren’t far away.

He picks up his pace excitedly, peeking around the corner and there they were: four, maybe five little kitties piling on top of each other as they fight for a spot around the canned food which someone had laid out for them. Their mother (whose tail Seungcheol saw) watches on noncomitantly, eating her own portion of food - a piece of fried fish which the kittens are still too young yet to know how to eat.

Seungcheol has to stop a little _“awwww”_ from escaping his lips for fear of scaring the cats away.

He still wants to pet them though, so he inches forward slowly, squatting down a distance away so that even his shadow wouldn’t startle them. The mother cat looks up, assessing him with bright intelligent eyes. They lock gazes for an intense minute.

Then she seems to shrug and returns back to her food. Seungcheol lets out a breath of relief. It feels like he just passed some sort of test.

He’s content with just watching the cats after that, chuckling softly when the mother cat hisses at one of her kittens who was trying to sneak a bite of her fish. The kitten mewls petulantly, like he was sassing back.

“Come on kitty, your mom says you can’t eat that one.”

Seungcheol reaches out to try and push the kitten back to his own food. The kitten nips his finger but the mother just blinks at the both of them. “Oh, I see how it is. I’m trying to help you here, if you didn’t notice.” The mother cat just goes back to her own food. Seungcheol huffs but puts the kitten back down next to its siblings. He gives it's head a light rub and it’s placated enough, going back to fighting with its siblings for food. Seungcheol’s about to reach out for another kitten — one that hasn’t seemed to stop eating _at all_  — when-

“HEY!” The voice startles him so much he shoots straight up, eyes wide. “What do you think you’re doing!”

Seungcheol turns around slowly to find a boy scowling at him, hands on his hips, an angry, downturned line where his mouth should be.

“Uhm... I was trying to pet the cats?” Seungcheol says.

“ _Pet_ them? You scared them all away!”

“ _No I didn’t!”_ But then he looks back and all the cats are gone. He turns back to the other boy, fuming. “Hey this isn’t my fault! You yelled at me first!”

“WHAT?!” The boy comes closer and that’s when Seungcheol gets a clear view of his face. _Oh wow._ Now Seungcheol isn’t easy. Far from it, really. There’s been plenty of pretty faces over the years whom he isn’t exactly oblivious too, but it never went further than that — pretty faces. But this boy… He was _gorgeous._

The curl of his lips intrigued Seungcheol, the way they seem to constantly smile even as the boy continued to scold him, and his eyes looked so much like the cats Seungcheol was so in love with. Even his _voice_ was nice. A warm baritone that sounded gentle even with the chiding.

 _Holy shit._ Was _this_ what Romeo felt when he first saw Juliet?

“HEY! Are you even listening to me? Fernface!” Seungcheol snaps from his thoughts. He coughs awkwardly. “U-uhm, could you repeat that?”

The stranger scoffs. “I figured.”

Maybe Seungcheol was staring too much, but were there _sparkles_ in other boy’s eyes? He starts to say something else but Seungcheol is drifting off again. ZedEyes  [[1](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13349424/chapters/30564006#zedeyes)] tells him that the boy’s name is Hong Jisoo, and that he’s 19, living in Field. 3.352 stars decorate the top of his SeeMe [[2](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13349424/chapters/30564006#seeme)] feed.

A quick scan shows that Jisoo doesn’t post much, mostly keeping to himself and his job at a bakery, but has a great love for music. A single smiling picture of Jisoo, taken by a _@yingjunhui_ stares back at him from the middle of the page. Seungcheol eyes flicker back to the boy who was _still_ scolding him.

The contrast was staggering and for that reason, Seungcheol suddenly wanted to know more about Hong Jisoo. Seungcheol feels a stupid smile spreading across his face. Suddenly, he isn’t too upset about having been stopped from petting a cat.

Jisoo, on the other hand, was beyond annoyed that this grass-fern dressed boy has the audacity, the courage to tell him what to do with his _cats._ Even if they were strays, he’s been taking care of them since their mum was a little kitten and he was just a boy himself, so in a sense, they were _his_ cats, _his_ babies and he’s not going to let some righteous, upper-class _snob_ tell him it’s _his_ fault.

“ _You!_ You scared little Muffins!” He points accusingly at the other, watching as the kitten ran off away from them, aware that it will take a whole detour around the block before coming back to Jisoo.

And sure enough it does with its siblings close behind and their mum licking its paw lazily some ways back.

He squats down, fishing out a pack of cat food from his slightly torn backpack and gleefully opens it for them.

“I’m sorry I haven’t been here much,” he says, stroking one of the kittens as they begin fighting again for the fresh meat, as if they haven’t been feasting on another meal just five minutes ago, “I’ve been trying to gather enough so I can buy this premium cat food for you cuties, I heard it’s what the Fern cats eat!”

The smallest of the bunch, Muffins, takes a tiny bite and blanches immediately, yowling in distaste. Its siblings were quick to take its place, happily eating the new food. Jisoo frowns in slight disappointment before fishing another can from his bag and opening it.

“I guess you don’t like that one,” he sighs, lips forming a slight pout when Muffins scurries for the newly opened can of food instead. Muffins purrs contentedly and Jisoo isn’t upset for long. “Silly kitty.”

To his dismay, the other boy is still there, a stupid grin on his face and it makes Jisoo uncomfortable. “What are you staring at?” he snaps, harsh enough to express his annoyance yet low enough so as to not scare the cats.

Seungcheol’s eyes widen slightly. “Me? Oh nothing, you’re just really–”

“Don’t try to tell me what to do with _my_ cats again, no wait – Don’t even _appear_ in my line of sight anymore, I never want to see you ever again.”

 _–_ _Beautiful._ Seungcheol’s glad that the other cut him off — it would’ve been really stupid to say that out loud when Jisoo _clearly_ dislikes him. It takes Seungcheol five minutes of standing around awkwardly, Jisoo still scowling up at him, for him to realize that he isn’t welcome here.

He looks up and the sun is bleeding orange.

It’s about time he heads back anyway. There’s a pile of readings on the table with his name on it, and a ton of backlogged anime to play in the background.

When Seungcheol looks back down, Jisoo is petting the kittens. In the half-light, murmuring quietly to the cats and face free from any angry lines, the boy is a little endearing. He’s an entirely different person and Seungcheol likes this version better.

Quietly, Seungcheol blinks three times and takes a photo of Jisoo on the ZedEyes.

Then he leaves quietly, heart content.

On Thursday, he’ll go find the kittens (and hopefully Jisoo) again.


End file.
